Remembering David Bowie

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The Songwriters Hall of Fame was saddened to learn of the passing of 2005 Inductee David Bowie yesterday.

Born in London on Jan. 8, 1947, David Robert Jones began as a teenager playing the saxophone and singing the blues. He went on to become a pioneer of glam rock and a major star in Britain, playing up his androgynous image Ziggy Stardust. He garnered a huge following, both in Britain and then across the pond in the US with the perfectly timed re-release of the album ?Space Oddity,? shortly before the Apollo 11 mission in 1973. Soon after, Bowie retired the character of Ziggy and went on to show the world his tremendous artistic range as a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, painter and actor under his chosen moniker of David Bowie.

A chameleon who reinvented himself multiple times over the years, his many hits on the US pop charts spoke to his extreme diversity and originality. To name a few; “Fame, “Let’s Dance,” “Modern Love,” “China Girl,” “Under Pressure,” and “Young Americans” make up some of his earlier catalog.

Most recently, he had just completed a new album called Blackstar which was released on his 69th birthday this past Friday, January 8, two days before his passing.

He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Iman, his daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones and son, Duncan Jones.

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Songwriters Hall of Fame’s ongoing mission is to celebrate and honor the contributions of our great popular music songwriters who have written the soundtrack for our nation’s history, while developing new writing talent through workshops, showcases, and digital initiatives.